Footwear



R. MALING May 14, 1946,

FOOTWEAR l Filed Dec. v8, 1944 si.) Il' IN V EN TOR.

Patented May 14, 1946 1 @UNITED l OFFICE '2,400,243 ,FOOTWEAR Roy Maling, "West Roxbury, -Mass. Applieationneeember s, 1944, serial No. 567,155

i y(ci. sas-'30) 6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements infoot- .wear `,and more particularlyto improvements ,at :the base parts of shoes :and slippers.

According to the invention, the ease and comfort of so-called soft-.sole lounging slippersisprovidedin footwear having va more :general utility, by embodying a soft-sole forepart in a `shoe or slipper which can have the shank and heel icharacteristics of conventional relatively stiT-soled footwear.

Soft-sole lounging slippers are well known .for their comfortable feel on a wearers feet.. However, it is equally Well known that .the lack of adequate arch .and `heel supportin such slippers renders them inadequate and definitely unsuitable i for extended periods of walking orstanding. The very nature of the soft-sole constructions has dis'- couraged heretofore all attempts to Vprovide de` sired arch and heel Supporting elements, capable of lending needed support when the weight of the wearer is placed on his feet for anyconsiderable length of time.

Itis an object of the present invention to combine in a shoe or slipper structure the desirable attributes of a soft-sole forepart and the footsupporting advantages of a shankand heel-structure capable of providing effective support for extensive walking and standing.

Another Vobject is to provide a shoe or slipper base unit having a soft-sole forepart and a rela- -tively stiff and stable rear part, With which base unitany gotanumerous variety of uppers eieci tivelymay be combined.

A further object is to providea shoe or slipper base unit having .a soft-sole forepart and Varela-I I tively stili and stable rear `part .embodying any of a wide variety of vheel and shank structures and designs.

Still another object is .to provide Va shoe or slipper 'basestructure having a soft-sole forepart to erally to improve upon ,prior shoe and slipper structures and methods of making-them. l

The l:mantienedgobjectsl and yresults are attained whichimay lbe amatted fibre vmember having substantial thickness, orfwhich may be a relatively ythin flexible-'member of leather or of any of the materials usedfor insoles. An outsole of so-called soft-sole leather. has a lfabric or other binding stripzsttiched tothe soft-sole around its forepart, andthe binding strip is turned overrthe edge of the Aforepart of the platformelement and secured as by cement tothe margin of its upper surface.

fIn one `form .of the invention, the marginal edgesof :the rearwardlyextending portions of the vplatform element are suitably bound with a strip of fabric or other material, land any lof various types of fheel may be secured to the platform, .preferably a `wedge type heel which may be laminated .or not as desired, so that support will vbeprovided at :thefshank region. The rearwardly extending portions of the soft-sole, without any edge binding, is secured in facing relation .to the under surfaces Vof the heel, under which a heel 'pa-d `of leather .or-the like may be secured for taking the :wear at thev heel region. The rear portions ,prelasted `I'orepart has been assembled, the heel structure in this vform being applied under the lasted upper, and the rearward extending portion of the soft-sole forepart facing the shank and heel surface as in the Arst 'mentioned construcf tion;

In the accompanying drawing: Figure `1 vis a'sideelevation of a footwear base structure embodying features of my invention, an

upper being shown in dotted outline associated therewith;

Figure2 is a top plan View of the base structure of'Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional View on line 3-3 offFigure 2; f

"1-Figure4 is across-sectional View on line y1 -i of 'Figure 2; f

Figure5 is afview in side elevation of a vmodi- `fied Vstructure showing the rear portion of an upper lasted yover the edges of th'e `platform elementof Va, base unit Whose heel'lift elements are shown in dotted outline, and the rearward extending part of the vsoft-sols element vbeing bent forwardly out Yof. the way, 4for the lasting ofthe by employing -a lfull jlength platform element 165 rear'fpartof upper;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of another modification showing how a Cuban or other unitary heel may be embodied in a structure embodying features of the invention: and

Figure 7 is an elevation, partly in section, of still another modified form of base structure.

Referring to th'e drawing, a full length platform element IIJ may be variously combined with heel lift elements or unitary heels as suggested in the variousviews. In the structure represented in Figs. 1-3, a heel lift element I2 is arranged above the platform element Il) and extends to contribute shank curvature, and two smaller heel i lift elements I4 are assembled together under the platform element, all of the lift elements being suitably secured to the platform as by cement with or without mechanical fastenings such' as the metal staples I6. Y

According to the invention, a suitable vleather split I 8, or other flexible sole element, has a binding strip 20 of fabric or other suitablematerial stitched as at 22 all around its edges at the forepart, the edges f the split I8 and the strip 2U being superimposed on each other for the stitching so that the split I8 may be arranged under the forepart of the platform element IU and the binding strip be turned over the edges of the platform element, as a binding for its Aforepart edges, as represented-in Figs. 3 and 4. Also, as shown, the line of stitching 22 is pulled a little up on the edge of the platform element IIJ so that the binding strip 20 is elevated above th'e tread plane of the forepart.

The soft-sole element I8 has an integral rearwardly extending part 24 which is secured as by cement in facing relation to the under surfaces of the platform and heel unit, with or without a heel pad 26 on its under sidev at the rear of the shoe.

serve, it being desirable inv every case to draw the Y stitch line 22 sufficiently above the tread plane so that no appreciable wear will come on the binding strip 2B at the forepart.

When matted bre elements are employed, ll prefer to bind their exposed edges as at 30, 32

with fabric or other flexible material, the binding 30 on the platform element preferably extending only far enough' forward to provide iny effect a continuation of the forepart binding 20.

y Obviously the shank and heel regions may be variously formed. For example, the platformelement Il) may extend rearward to provide a flat base with the heel lift elements all mounted above it,vor all of the heel lift elements may be below the platform element. Also it should be understood that a solid wedge shaped heel mayl be employed either above or below the rplatform element, or a Cuban or other unitary style of heel may be mounted under the platform, with suitable shank stiffening means incorporated-in the platform element or betweenit andthe usual sock lining. Fig. 6 shows such a Cuban heel 34 in a, construction having the rear part of upper 36 :upper 40 similarly is lasted Yover the platform element I0, the rearward extending part 42 of the soft-sole element being shown bent forward out of the way of the lasting operation, and the heel, of any desired style, being indicated by dotted lines, as also the ultimate position of the n element, andra relatively stiff andvstable arch and heelsupporting rear part, said tread element extension 42.

Although the soft-sole structures of Figs. 1-6 employ a leather split to whose forepart margin a binding strip is stitched, for covering the edge of a platform, a unitary sheet 44, as in Fig. '7, may be used and constitute the tread element and also the edge binding for the platform. If desired an outer tread element, such as a leather split might underlie the sheet 44.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a shoe or slipper structure whose forepart has the characteristics of a soft-sole article but whose rear part provides effective support at the arch and heel regions, with or without a pre-formed stiff counter as may be desired.

I claim as my invention:

1. A base unit for footwear comprising a full length platform element, a flexible tread element covering the under surface of said platform element at its forepart, a flexible binding strip stitched t0 said tread element around the edges of only the forepart thereof and turned over the edges of the forepart of the platform with the line of stitching drawn up out of the tread plane of said tread element, a heel lift element secured to the platform element at the rear of the unit, said tread element having an integral rearwardly extending portion facing the under surfaces of said unit at the shank and heel regionsof the unit and free of any binding strip, whereby the edges' of the platform and the heel lift elements are exposed at the rear portions of the unit. l 'Y 2. Al base unit for footwear comprising a full length platform element, having a heel lift structure associated therewith atkits Yrear part, and

55` having a flexible tread element, al binding strip extending around only the forepart of the unit, said tread element being stitched around its edge at the forepart to the edge 'of the binding strip, and the latter being turned over the edges of the forepart of the platform element and secured to the upper margin thereof all around the forepart ofthe unit, said tread element having an integral portion extending rearward and free of any binding strip facing and secured to the under surfaces of said platform and heel Vstructure at the shank and heel regions `of the unit, leaving the edges of the platform and heel elements exposed at the rear portions of the unit. Y

,3. Abase unitfor footwear comprising a softsole forepart including a sole. element and a tread extending in facing relation to the under Aside of the sole element of the forepart and having means thereon covering the edges of said sole element 2,490,243 only around its forepart, and there being anv integral rearward extension of said tread element facing only the under surfaces of said unit at the shank and heel regions thereof and leaving the edges of said arch and heel supporting rear part exposed.

4. A sole structure comprising a platform and heel unitl comprising a full length platform element and a heel lift element securedvthereto at a. rearward location thereon and a flexible tread elementfacing the forepart of said platform element, a binding strip extending only aroundrthe forepart of the article and stitched around its edges to the binding strip, said bindingV strip 5. A sole structure comprising a platform and heel unit of which the platform extends from end to end of the article and a heel lift element is secured thereto at its rear part and extendsA into the shank region of the article to contribute shank curvature, a flexible tread element surfacing the full area of the forepart and having means secured around its forepart covering the edges of said platform only at its forepart, said tread element having an integral extension rearward for facing the shank and heel regions of said unit and leaving the rear edge portions of the unit exposed.

' 6. A soft-sole shoe structure comprising a platform With flexible tread soft-sole forepart, and a heel lift foot-supporting rear part, at least one heel lift element extending into the shank region and contributing shank curvature, and an integral extension of said flexible tread of the forepart constituting a bottom facing strip for an under surface of said rear part, said flexible tread of the forepart having a stitched binding strip securing it to the platform only around its forepart with the line of stitching elevated above the tread plane of the forepart, and said integral extension of the tread being free of any binding strip at the rear parts of the structure.

ROY MALING. 

